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VOYAGES 



EAST COAST OF AMERICA, 



IN THE XYI. CENTURY. 



BY 

WILLIAM WILLIS. 



Keprintcd from the New-Englasd Historical and Genealogical Kegisteb for April, 1869. 





BOSTON: 

PRINTED BY DAVID CLAPP & SON. 

1869. 



oif,52 



\o^ 



SUMMARY OF VOYAGES TO THE NORTHERN ATLANTIC 
COAST OF AMERICA IN THE 16th CENTURY. 



It is a curious fact in geography as well as history, that notwith- 
• standing the great excitement which followed the discovery of the 
American continent, no part of it lying north of Florida was colonized 
for more than one hundred years after the first great" voyage of the 
Cabots, in 1 iOV. They appear to have sailed directly across the ocean 
from Bristol to Newfoundland or Cape Breton ; they saw no inhabit- 
ants ; and returned sadly disappointed that their fondly hoped pas- 
sage to Cathay was obstructed by this inhospitable stretch of land. 
On his second voyage in 1498, Sebastian Cabot skirted the coast from 
Davis Straits to Cape Ilatteras, peering anxiously into open spaces 
only to find the new way to the Indies. He touched at several places, 
of which he has left no account, nor given us any information in regard 
to the country. 

This second voj^age produced so little impression upon the public 
mind of England, as to fall into neglect. His object, and the dream 
of his long life, was, to find a short passage to the rich fields of India, by 
the west, as the Portuguese had before discovered the long passage 
by the way of " Good Hope," to the great fame of da Gama, its dis- 
coverer, and the glory and prosperity of the nation which had des- 
patched him on his mission. 

Cabot's first voyage was conducted by John the father in a single 
vessel, accompanied by Sebastian, his son, then about twenty years 
old. The whole voyage occupied but three months, from May to 
August, 1497, but was of the highest importance as I'evealing the fact 
of the existence of a great continent lying in the west. This aston- 
ishing fact, especially gratifying to the English nation, as the first dis- 
coverer, led the next year to more extended preparations for continuing 
their discoveries, and with full confidence that the grand object of their 
pursuit, the western passage to Cathaj', would crown their exertions, 

A fleet of five vessels was placed under Sebastian Cabot, who with 
a large company of volunteers sailed from Bristol in May, 1498 ; he 
reached* the coast at Newfoundland or Labrador in July, which he 
followed to the north-east, until he encountered ice in such quantities 
as to check his further advance in that direction ; he then turned 
south, and proceeded as far as Cape Hatteras, examining the coast 
at various points to find his hoped-for route to India. He encounter- 
ed on these examinations the native inhabitants, and made observa- 

• Mr. Charles Dcane, in liis remarks on Sebastian Cabot's " Mappe Monde," before the ■ 
American Antiquarian Society, Ayril, 1867, says, " The land first seen is clearly indicated on 
the map, and prima vista, and atc^un pritiia tierra vista, are marked npon it : and it is very 
certain that it i-; neither Newlomidland nor Labrador, bnt Cape Breton." In a note he adds, 
" Michael Lok's map, puljlished 1 ly Ilakhiyt, 1.582, made according to ' Verazano's plat,' has a 
delineation of ' C. Breton ' upon it, on which is inscribed ' J. Cabot, 1497.' " This of course" 
applies to the first voyage, and the discovery by John Cabot. The land which Sebastian 
first made in 1498, is not definitely known. This view of the "prima vista " of Cabot is 
not conceded, and is opposed l)y "weighty arguments which have been adduced by Dr. Kohl 
in the first volume, second series, of the il/«me Bistcrrkal Collections, jast published. 



4 Voyages to the Coast of America. 

tions in regard to their character and customs. This was the last 
voyag-e to the north performed by the Cabots ; the spirit which ex- 
cited them seems wholly to have died away, probably from failure of 
the great object of their search, and no attempt was made to renew 
them by the English for many years. 

In the mean time, however, other nations were stirred by the ex- 
ample of England, to enter npon this new field of adventure. The 
Portuguese, under their brilliant and enterprising monarch, Emanuel, 
were the first to more in the northern, as they had been the earliest 
in the southern hemisphere. In the year 1500, an expedition was 
fitted out at Lisbon, and placed under the command of Gaspard de 
Cortereal for northern discovery. This intelligent navigator, sailing 
on a northwest course, reached the American coast, but at what point 
we have no means of knowing, probably at some part of Newfound- 
land ; and sailing north as far as Greenland, he returned to Lisbon in 
the autumn. We have no particulars of this first voyage of Cortereal, 
and the only notice we have of it, is from records recently discovered 
in the archives of Portugal and referred to by Dr. Kohl in his account 
of the early voyages to America, contained in the first volume, second 
series, of the Maine Historical Collections. 

Of Cortereal's second voyage, we have more full information from 
various sources, by which it appears that he sailed from Lisbon, May 
15, 1501, with two, some say three ships, and pursuing a west north- 
west course for two thousand Italian miles, he reached the coast of 
Newfoundland, and continued in a northerly direction six or seven 
hundred miles further, until his passage was obstructed by ice. He 
then turned south, and after seizing fifty-seven natives of the country, 
probably Esquimaux from Labrador, he commenced his homeward 
voyage. But unfortunately, only one ship returned to Lisbon, arriv- 
ing early in October, 1501 ; the other, with the noble commander, and 
fifty of the slaves, was never heard of after. The country thus visited 
and plundered was named Labrador from the Portuguese word signi- 
fying " laborer ; " it is also called on some early maps " Corterealis," 
or coast of Cortereal. 

The next year, 1502, his brother Miguel was sent in pursuit of his 
lost brother and crew, and he also perished : no account of either was 
ever received. Thus terminated the efforts of the Portuguese at dis- 
covery in this portiori'of America. May not these adventurers have 
been sacrificed to the retributive justice of the aborigines for the ab- 
duction of their brethren ? The European shallop, containing eight 
savages, one of whom was dressed in European clothes, and who 
visited Gosnold, on his arrival on our coast, may have been the relics 
of one of the many disastrous voyages which came to so fearful an 
end.' 

The notice of Cortereal's second voyage is contained in a letter writ- 

1 Brereton, in his narrative of GosnolJ's voyage of 1602, tlius speaks of this visit: " On 
the morning of the 14th of M.iy, we made the" land, . . and standing fiir along l)y the 
shore, about 12 of the clock the same dav, we came to an anchor, when eight Indians in a 
Basque Shallop with mast and sail, an iron grapple and a ki?ttle of copper, came boldly 
al)oard ns, one of them apparelled with a waistcoat and breeches of black serge, made after 
our sea fashion, hose and shoes on his feet; all the rest, saving one that hid a pair of 
breeches of blue clotli, were naked." This was in latitude 43 degrees, which would cor- 
respond with that of Portsmouth, N. H., off the month of Piscataqua river. We have no 
farther or other account of this shallop, where she came from or what became of her. 



Voyages to the Coast of America. 5 

ten from Lisbon by Pasquiligi, the Venetian ambassador, to his brother, 
eleven days after the arrival of Cortereal's vessel at Lisbon, October 
15, 1501 .^ It is published in the exceedingly rare work called " Mondo 
Novo," the New World, issued in Italian, at Vincenza, in 1507, of 
which only two copies are known to exist in this countr}'^ ; and. these, 
one in the original language, the other a French translatiocf, are both 
in the librarj'^ of Harvard College. 

Soon after this time, fishermen from France, either in pursuit of the 
whale, or having heard of the abundance of cod on the banks of New- 
foundland, began to visit the coast in pursuit of a traffic, which has 
never failed to yield employment and a profit to all who have engaged 
in it. They were the first nation to enter upon the American fisheries, 
which they commenced as early as 1504, seven years after the first 
discovery of the country ; and so great was their success, that within 
thirteen years after, fifty vessels, principally French, were employed in 
the business. In 1577, the same nation had 150 vessels in the same em- 
ployment, and w^ere associated with vessels from every other commercial 
nation in Europe. The English were not found there until 1517 ; but in 
1522, they had made such progress, that they had erected on Newfound- 
land 40 or 50 houses for the convenience of their fishermen, which, 
although it was not a permanent, was the first attempt of the Eng- 
lish at colonization on our shores. We'have no evidence that these 
fishermen visited any other part of the American coast, or made any 
attempt to settle or occupy the country. In 1506, John Denys, of 
Honfleur in France, published a map of the coast of Newfoundland 
and neighboring country, a document which is not known to be in 
existence.* 

The next voyage to our continent, of which we have any account, 
was conducted by John de Verazzani, under the direction of Francis I. 
of France, in 1524. lie was a Florentine by birth; the narrative of 
his adventure is contained in his letter to the king, dated Jul}'' 8, 
1524, and given to the public for the first time by Ramusio, in his great 
and invaluable collection of all the voyages and travels of which any 
written evidence remained. This rare w^ork was published in Italian 
at Venice, in 1550, accompanied by the able commentaries of this 
learned scholar. It was translated into English by Richard Eden in 
1555, and since freely used by Hakluyt and other collectors of the 
early voyages. 

To this adventurer is due the merit of furnishing the earliest origi- 
nal account we have of the Atlantic coast of the U. S. Verazzani 
left the Madeira Islands in January, 1524, with one vessel and 50 
men ; he pursued a westerly course, and in 49 days reached the coast 

' We are aware that the voyase here spoken of by Pasquiligi, has, until quite recently, 
been considered the first of the Corterenl voy.ijics. But tue researches of Kunstmann in 
the archives of Portugal, published at Munich in 18o9, have revealed new facts, which ren- 
der almost certain a voyage in 1500 prior to the one described by Pasquiligi. See Dr. 
Kohl, 1 Maine Hist. Col. 2d series, p. 168. 

2 The early Portuguese or Spanish visitors to the coast, either Cortereal's men, or the 
fishermen, undoubtedly gave the name Baccalaos, which Cupc Breton bore on the early 
maps, and in common use, for more than a century afier its di-covcry, on accoutit of the 
quantity of cod fish found about that island. The word, which means "dry cod," is in the 
Portuguese language, Bacalhao, in Spanish Bacalaos, and in Italian Baccala and Baccalore. 
In the Italian, the tiefinition is stockfish, which is noiliing more than cod hard dried in the 
sun. There is a small island on the cast coast of Newfoundland, ah'>ut 40 mi'es north of 
St. John, still called Bacalieu. or Bacaalos. In an old Spniish dictionary of 1623, in my 
possession, the definition of Bacalaos is " a kiud of new-laud fish." 
* 



'6 Voyages to the Coast of America. 

in about the 34th parallel of latitude, in the vicinity of Cape-Fear, 
North-Carolina. Finding here no suitable harbor, he sailed southerly 
along the coast to about the latitude of Florida, and perceiving the 
land continue low, and stretching southward, he retraced his course, 
and made at last the harbor of Newport in Rhode-Island. He spent 
three wegks in this admirable port, of which he gave a particular and 
accurate description ; had friendly and pleasant intercourse with the 
natives, large numbers of whom constantly visited his ship, exchang- 
ing commodities of various kinds ; and of whose character and cus- 
toms he gave an account. 

From this place, he sailed along the coast to Newfoundland, touch- 
ing at various points, and holding communication with the inhabit- 
ants ; those whom he found on the north-eastei-n part were much more 
savage and hostile than those of Narraganset bay. He says : " they 
clothe themselves in skins of bears, lynxes and other animals ; their 
food is obtained by hunting and fishing and certain roots ; they have 
no pulse, and we saw no signs of cultivation. The land appears ste- 
rile and unfit for growing of fruit or grain of any kind." He adds, 
" we found here a more elevated country, full of very thick woods." 
Further north-east, he says, " we found the country more pleasant 
and open, free from woods ; and, distant, in the interior, we saw lofty 
mountains, but none which extended to the shore." How clearly 
this description indicates the coast of Maine, with the distant white 
mountains, the most conspicuous objects as you approach from the 
eea. 

He returned to Dieppe in Normandy, in July of the same year, from 
which place he addressed to his patron, Francis I., a letter dated 
July 8, giving an interesting narrative of his voyage. The original 
letter was found in a library at Florence, of which a new and correct- 
ed translation was published by the New-York Historical Society in 
1841. Hakluyt had published in his collections an imperfect copy, 
taken from Ramusio. 

In this letter Verazzani says : " My intention was to reach Cathay 
on the extreme coast of Asia, expecting, however, to find in the new- 
ly discovered land some such obstacles as they have proved to be, 
yet I did not doubt that I should penetrate, by some passage, to the 
eastern ocean." We are thus furnished with additional proof, that we 
are indebted for the discovery of this portion of America at least, to 
the insatiate passion after the rich products of the East. Verazzani 
made a second voyage in the following year, from which he never 
returned ; it was reported that he was killed and eaten by the sava- 
ges ; but no authentic account of his fate is known to exist. 

The next series of voyages to the American coast, was undertaken 
by the French, and were different in their plan and purpose from every 
previous one. They had been led by the great success of their fisheries 
to consider the expediency of planting colonies in the neighborhood of 
that rich field of commercial pursuit. To accomplish this object, 
Jaques Cartier, under orders of the brilliant Francis, who patronized 
the former expedition, sailed from St. Malo in France, April 20, 1534, 
with two vessels, both under 60 tons, and arrived at Newfoundland in 
.28 days. He spent three months in exploring the gulf of St. Law- 
rence, and gave names to prominent points, which they still retain.^ 
In May of the next year, 1535, he sailed on his second voyage, with 



Voyages to the Coast of America. ^ 

three vessels and 110 men, well equipped and provisioned. He en- 
tered the river St. Lawrence, of which he was the first European dis- 
coverer, and proceeded with his fleet as high up as the isle of Orleans. 
Having concluded to winter in the country, he moored his vessels in 
the river St. Charles, under the shadow of the heights now occupied 
by the city of Quebec, at the base of which was the large Indian vil- 
lage named Stadacona. From this point Cartier, with a pinnace and 
two long boats, proceeded up the river to the famed village of Hockela- 
ga, now Montreal, which he reached October 2d. He ascended the 
mountain, which overhung the village, and enjoj'ed the magnificent 
scenery that still delights the numerous tourists who visit that beau- 
tiful spot. He gave to the place the name of Mount Real, or Royal 
Mountain, which is perpetuated in the name of the city which adorns 
the site of the aboriginal town. Pie returned to his fleet on the 11th 
of October, and after a severe winter, and the loss of twenty-five of 
his crew, he left his anchorage on the 6th of May 0. S., and proceeded 
homeward, arriving at St. Malo on the 6th of July, 1536. He took 
with him the Indian chief Donnacona, and nine other natives, whom 
he abducted, whose strange and novel appearance made a great sensa- 
tion in France. 

In 1541, Cartier made a second voyage to the scene of his former 
discovery, with a large and better appointed fleet, and with liberal ap- 
pliances for establishing a colony in this new domain. This expe- 
dition was fitted out iinder the leadership of La Roche, Lord Rober- 
val, who by some mischance did not accompany Cartier ; but who 
followed, the next year, with a portion of the fleet intended for the 
joint operations. Cartier, without waiting for orders from his chief, 
proceeded directly to his former anchorage, penetrated still farther 
up the St. Lawrence, even over the rapids of Lachine, built a fort 
above Quebec, and spent another winter in the country. Roberval not 
joining him as he expected, he broke up his establishment, and com- 
menced his return voyage in the spring of 1542. At Newfoundland, he 
found Roberval with two large vessels and 200 persons, well supplied 
with provisions and other means to reinforce his colony and to con- 
tinue the occupation of the country, of which he had been appointed 
governor. But Cartier, from some unexplained cause, abandoned 
the enterprise, returned home, and left Roberval to pursue his voyage, 
unaided by the valuable experience which Cartier had obtained b3'' 
his visits to the country. 

Roberval, a man of great energy, talent and hope, not discouraged 
by Cartier's desertion, entered the great river, explored the adjoin- 
ing country, built a fort, and made preparations for founding a per- 
manent colony. But his companions, many of whom were from the 
higher classes of society, being unaccustomed to the rigor of this 
northern climate, found the winter too long and severe ; many died, 
and the rest, discouraged, returned to France in 1543. 

In 1549, Roberval undertook another voyage to accomplish the 
unfinished work of his former adventure ; but this noble cavalier, 
worthy of success and a better fate, pei'ished, with all his company, by 
the way. 

Thus terminated for the remainder of the 16th century all efforts 
by the French to establish their dominion in this part of the new 
world, to which they had proudly given the title of New-France. Their 



8 Voyages to the Coast of America.. 

first permanent success was realized in the beginning of the 17th cen- 
tury, under the guidance of that gallant and noble gentleman, Samuel 
Champlain, ■who not only made extensive discoveries, and established 
French nationality in tliis country, but illustrated his works by his 
pen, and has left an imperishable name in the annals of history, as 
well as on the beautiful lake which perpetuates his memorj'. 

It was upon the discoveries of Verazzani and those of Cartier and 
Eoberval, and their attempts at colonization, tliat France claimed title 
to the whole Atlantic coast from Florida to the Gulf of St. Lawrence ; 
and the vexed and irritating question was never settled, until the 
whole country came into possession of the English, by the peace of 
Paris in 1763. And why was it not a good title, according to the 
doctrine and uniform practice of that day? If they had planted colo- 
nies upon the soil they had discovered, their title would have been 
perfected to the Atlantic coast as it was to Canada. The prima vista 
of Cabot was earlier by four years than the larger and more detailed 
observatiou of Verazzani ; but the latter touched at more points and 
made more protracted visits to the natives, and gave more full ac- 
counts of them, than did the Cabots. The English, too, for a hundred 
years, abandoned tiie country they had first discovered, and left it 
open for new adventurers and new claimants. 

And although the English, early in the next century, dotted the 
whole coast from Cape Ilatteras to the Penobscot with their colonies, 
except New-York, pre-occupied by the Dutch, yet the French argu- 
ment was not without force ; it had solid ground to stand upon. 

Their occupation of the St. Lawrence and Canada, was superior, 
and that under de Mont in the St. Croix and at Port Royal were equal, 
as a title, to the occupation of Sagadahoc by Popham. But the Eng- 
lish afterwards took possession and kept possession, which was a strong- 
er argument than the subtle doctrine of prima vista. " He may take 
who lias the power, and he may keep wiio can." 

The reign of Henry VIII., and of his son Edward, and daughter Mary, 
passed without any movement, even towards a discovery of the long 
desired passage to Cathay by the north-west, although Sebastian 
Cabot, living through these reigns, never ceased to proclaim his un- 
wavering faith in its existence. And although discourse, petition and 
project, by Michael Lok, Jenckynson,Sir Humphrey Gilbert, and others, 
closely followed one another, tending to magnify the importance of 
such a passage, and the certainty of its existence ; yet neither were 
the government nor individuals persuaded to invest their funds in so 
hazardous an enterprise. It was not until the reign of Elizabeth was 
half spent, that prominent parties were induced once more to engage 
in the adventure. Among these persons were the Earls of Leicester 
and Pembroke, and other noblemen and gentlemen, who, in the name 
of the " company of Cathay," fitted out an expedition, and placed it 
under the command of Martin Frobisher as " Captain General and 
Admiral of the ships." 

He sailed in June, 1576, with two barks, neither of which exceed- 
ed 25 tons — less than the common mackerel fishers f>f our time — and a 
pinnace of 10 tons, to make a voyage of Northern discovery ! An en- 
terprise which now exacts the best efforts of mechanical skill and 
the power of steam, to contend with the ice and fearful storms of the 
polar regions. What would Franklin, or Kane, or Dr. Hayes say to a 



Voyages to the Coast of America. 9 

polar royage in these little cock-boats of 25 and 10 tons ? Braver 
hearts or more daring souls, do not now exist, than those which 300 
years ago attempted to penetrate those ice-bound seas— but the 
vessels are shocking to think of! 

Frobisher, on his voyage, came no farther south than Newfound- 
land ; he discovered the strait which bears his name, between Labra- 
dor and Greenland, which he penetrated a short distance, and brought 
home a quantity of earth and sand, which he supposed to be gold 
bearing ore. This so excited the cupidity of the adventurers, and the 
curiosity of those people, who were let into the secret, that a new 
and a much larger expedition was fitted out, to which the Queen, 
carried away by the enthusiasm of the company, contributed £1,000, 
with the sole and express purpose of loading the ships with this 
golden earth. All thoughts of Cathay, the original object of the 
company, seem to have been abandoned, and their minds were filled 
with the hallucination of an immediate golden harvest. The vessels 
in due time returned, laden with the precious mineral ; assayers from 
the continent were procured, and all the processes known in that day 
were employed to turn it into the pockets of the greedy, expectant 
adventurers. And while the process was going on, a new fleet was has- 
tily equipped, and Frobisher made his third and last voyage in 15T8, 
to this northern El Dorado, for still more of the coveted material. 
But tempest and shipwreck sunk and scattered the fleet, and the por- 
tion saved returned in a forlorn condition, having entirely failed in 
the object of their pursuit. 

In the mean time, the cargoes of earth, after patient and protracted 
tests, were found to be worthless ; and the hope and glory and 
wealth expected from these great adventures, the largest which had 
been undertaken in England, utterly vanished, to the sad loss and dis- 
comfiture of all who had engaged in them, leaving nothing but recri- 
minations and quarrels behind. 

The next attempts to solve this perplexing problem of the North- 
west passage, and to establish colonies on the American shore, were 
made by men^bers of the Gilbert and Raleigh family. These were 
Sir Humphrey Gilbert, Sir Walter Raleigh, his half brother Adrian, 
and the Raleigh Gilbert who was afterwards Admiral of the Popham 
colony. 

Humphrey Gilbert and Walter Raleigh were men of noble charac- 
ter and daring enterprise ; they were scholars as well as adventurers. 
Gilbert, in 1566, petitioned the Queen to allow him to seek for a pas- 
sage to Cathay, wtiich he was confident existed, with certain privi- 
leges to be granted to him. He followed this the next year with 
another petition, setting forth the conditions on which he would un- 
dertake the discovery at his own cost. Nothing came of tins. In 
15T6, he published a discourse in quarto form, having previously writ- 
ten articles on the subject, which have not been preserved, to prove 
the existence of a passage by the north-west to Cathay ; he contribut- 
ed to Frobisher's voyages, and in 1579, under a liberal charter for 
colonization, he embarked to take possession of the country which 
had been assigned to him, Raleigh heartily assisting his efforts. But 
by dissensions and other mischances the voyage was broken up, and 
was not resumed until 15S3, when a new fleet was equipped, consist- 
ing of five ships, well manned and prepared to take possession of the 



10 Voyages to the Coast of America. 

country for England, and to establish a permanent colony there. He 
sailed from Plymouth in June, and, on August 3d, he entered the har- 
bor of St. John, Newfoundland ; and notwithstanding the strenuous 
opposition of the foreign fishermen, who were pursuing their accustom- 
ed occupation at the Island, he proclaimed his title in the p-resence of 
the numerous fishermen there, and set up a monument, inscribed with 
the arms of England, as a testimonial of sovereignty, and jurisdiction 
over the 200 leagues of territory to which his charter extended. The 
charter defined no particular territory, but " gave him free liberty and 
license to discover, finde, search out and view, such remote, heathen 
and barbarous lands, not actually possessed by any Christian prince 
or people, as to him shall seem good." 

On the 8th of August, Sir Humphrey wrote to Sir George Peck- 
ham, one of his associates, described his taking possession, and says : 
" Of the Newfoundland I will say nothing until my next letter. Be 
of good chaer, for if there were no better expectations it were a very 
rich demesne, the country being very good and full of all sorts of 
victual as fish, of fresh water and sea fish. Deer, Pheasants, partridges, 
swans and divers fowls." — Alas ! no other letter came from this noble 
Christian gentleman ! Insubordination among his crew, and other 
adverse circumstances, induced him to retrace his way ; and abandon- 
ing one of his vessels, with the three remaining ones he left the 
island, and proceeding as far south as Penobscot Bay, he encountered 
a September gale, which wrecked his largest vessel, in which 100 men 
perished. On this mischance he changed his course homeward. Em- 
barking himself, in the pinnace of ten tons, scarcely larger than a 
common sail boat, the gallant commander, in the midst of another 
violent gale, was carried down at midnight with his whole company. 
The Bind, the only survivor of this gay and hopeful fleet, which, 
three and a half months before, had left its moorings in Plymouth, 
freighted with valiiiible lives and large expectations, returned in a 
crippled condition to her anchorage, on September 27th. No part of 
the coast, except Newfoundland, appears to have been visited or 
seen ; no colony was left, and the possession, so formally taken, was 
abortive. 

In looking back over the century which we have been rapidly sur- 
veying, it is sad to reflect how many noble lives perished, and what 
a vast amount of wealth was wasted, in attempts to explore the 
northern regions of this continent from its first discovery to find this 
visionary and useless passage to India ; the search for which is not 
yet abandoned. 

This century, so prolific in speculation, adventure, and disaster, 
came to its close with the persistent but unsuccessful eff'orts to estab- 
lish colonies on the southern coast, by that admirable cavalier. Sir 
Walter Raleigh. Having obtained a charter from Queen Elizabeth in 
1584, with powers and privileges similar to those granted to his 
brother-in-law, Gilbert — a roving commission to seize and occupy any 
vacant territory not previously possessed by any Christian people ; 
with ample authority for colonization and government — Raleigh fitted 
out an exploring expedition. Admonished by the disasters of a 
northern voyage, he sought in the south a milder climate and more 
propitious elements. On the 13th of Sept., 1584, his fleet entered 
Ocracock Inlet in North-Carolina, opened intercourse with the natives, 



Voyages to the Coast of America. . H 

•iexamined the surrounding islands and bays, and returned home in 
September with glowing accounts of the climate, the country, auu 
their pleasant discoveries. 

The associates were so encouraged by these animating representa- 
tions that the next year they fitted out a larger expedition, consist- 
ing of seven ships, with a colony of 108 persons, under command of 
skilful leaders, and with the necessary materials for planting a colony. 
But this effort, and a succeeding one in 1587, though well appointed 
in all particulars, utterly failed from various causes. Among them 
were, the ill treatment of the natives, their eager pursuit of gold, to 
the neglect of the cultivation of the soil, and the mercenary conduct 
of the commander of the expeditions. The discovery of the Chesa- 
peake Bay had been made on the second voyage, and the neglect of 
the leader of the third voyage to establish his colony on its beautiful 
shores, as he had been instructed to do, was among the causes of its 
fatal result. The whole party which was left in the country on each 
of the two last visits, waiting long expected succor, miserably per- 
ished ; their bones only remaining to speak of the fearful tragedy. 

Thus closed the 16th century, more than a hundred years after the 
discovery of this continent, and not a single colony, nor a single 
European remained on its whole Atlantic coast. 

The expeditions which were designed for colonization, were ill pre- 
pared to encounter the perils of the sea, the climate, and the savages. 
All things were new, and strange, and inhospitable ; a soil without 
cultivation, a wilderness in which existed none of the comforts and 
conveniences to which the new comers had been accustomed ; they 
brought no spirit of conciliation toward the free and lawful proprie- 
tors of the country, who were thus rudely invaded by a^ race, which 
proudly assumed lordship and supremacy. Another serious cause of 
failure should not be omitted, and that was the employment, in the 
various expeditions, of vagabonds and convicted felons, of whom the 
English nation was but too glad to be rid in voyages of unusual 
danger.* 

But notwithstanding the hardships and failures, the toils and sacri- 
fices, of these adventurous men, a certain degree of success followed 
their disappointed hopes. They were the pioneers who unfolded this 
new world, and gave to the old continent glimpses of the vast resour- 

» Pasqniligi, in his letter from London to his brother?, Aug. 23, 1497, speaking of John 
Cabot's return, says : " The King has promised that in the spring our countryman shall 
have ten ships, armed to his order, and at his request has conceded him all the prisoners, 
except such as are confined for high treason, to man his fleet. ^ 

.Sainshury's Calendar of East India papers quotes a document relating to Frohisher s 2d 
voyage as follows: "Names of the piisoners who Mr. Frobisher hath out of certam pris- 
ons to go with him to Cathav, and tbeir offences, mostly convicted of robbery by the 
highway "—the number was eleven. This was April, 1577. In his instructions, May 17, 
he was ordered to receive no disorderly person, "except such as ye have received by our 
order, that were prisoners and condemned persons." It is added. " to leave six of the con- 
demned persons in Friczland to learn the state of the country." But these facts do not 
sustain the statement of sgme recent writers, that the Popham Colony of 1607, on the Ken- 
nebec, was designed as a convict establishment. The proprietors, Sir F. Gorges and others, 
in this undertaking, were laying the foundations of a State, which some of tliein were to 
occupy and govern, and were taking measures to give value to their large territorial posses- 
sions. The supposition that they were commencing their improvements l>y placing a 
colony of convicts on their domain, is not only absurd, but would indicate a want of intel- 
liijence and common sense in men who were thought competent to discharge the duties of 
Chief Justice of England, and to fill other important and responsible positions in the reahn. 
The evidence to support such statements has either been misunderstood or .misapplied. 



12 Voyages to the Coast of America. 

ces that lay dormant within it. It was the better fortune of the next 
ceniury, although of like perilous adventure, to open it to Chris- 
tian civilization, material prosperity, and ultimate freedom. All honor 
to the daring zeal of adventure, and wild spirit of enterprise, which 
sent forth those bold and hardy men on their great and providential 
mission ; they built better than they knew — they labored and endured, 
and we have entered into their labors.. 

The histories of these achievements are partly hidden in foreign 
archives ; but much is largely recorded in works of great value rarely 
to be found in tin's country. Ramusio, Gomara, Peter Martyr, Rich- 
ard Eden, Andre Thevet's New France, the Atlas of Ortelius — Theal- 
rum Orbis Terrarum, the most complete work of the kind which had 
appeared — Ilakluyt and Purchas, mines of rich but crude ore — De 
Laet's N'ovus Orbis, and other laborious writers, have preserved to 
us narratives of the great perils, enterprises, disasters, and results, 
which the amazing discovery of this new world occasioned and 
accomplished. And the Maine Historical Society' has just issued from 
the press its first volume of the " Documentary History of Maine," 
containing a history of the voyages to the eastern coast of America 
in the 16th century, prepared from original sources by Dr. J. G. Kohl, 
of Germany, illustrated by the earliest maps, a valuable contribution 
to American history. 




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